Beekeeping is an incredibly difficult and yet fulfilling experience. Working intimately with these creatures day in and day out breaks common misconceptions of these buzzing little pollinators. While they do attack when provoked, if worked with in an amicable, non-invasive manner, they become incredibly friendly creatures. This is why you will often see professional beekeepers working without a suit while handling their bees. Choosing their home is important, however, and this article is going to review the Apimaye Medium Insulated Super for Langstroth Beehive.
If you are just beginning your journey as an avid beekeeper, then you know how difficult the first step of choosing a home really is. The market is over saturated with hive home after hive home, and for someone new to this overwhelming world, determining what home works best for your bees is tough.
If you are struggling with what to choose for a bee hive home, there are some essential components to keep in mind. Good homes should be versatile, make honey harvesting easy, promote optimal honey production, be easy to set up, transport easily, and last but not least, be designed in a way that means accessing the honey barely disturbs the hive.
So, before you throw down money for this initial investment, we are going to make this decision making process easier by taking a look at a few popular models on the market, comparing them based on customer reviews, testimonials, and price.
Whether you are jumping into beekeeping for the first time, or are a seasoned professional with years of experience, this article will help you determine whether or not the Apimaye Medium Insulated Super for Langstroth Beehive is the best choice for your hive.
The Apimaye Medium Insulated Super for Langstroth Beehive is a standard, 10 frame super installed with superior insulation. This ensures that your bees have a home that sits at an ideal temperature, even during winter. If your bees feel warm and un-threatened by encroaching cold temperatures, they will keep away from consuming all of the honey during the colder months. The size and insulation of this model also makes for fast honey production during the spring and high bee survival rate.
The super is made of UV-resistant plastic and has a double wall of insulation. While this isn’t made of wood, the material and insulation manages to keep out troublesome moisture, which keeps fungus from growing inside the hive and damaging your colony.
The Apimaye also has a screened bottom draw that catches loose pollen. This additional screen also helps keep out varroa mites and small hive beetles, pests that even the most experienced beekeepers tackle at least once in their career.
The set up of this super also makes feeding your bees easy. The top feeding draw allows the beekeeper to feed their hive with minimal disturbance to the hive, and the set up keeps bees from drowning in the syrup.
This model is also relatively versatile. It is made so you can add extra supers to the home once your bee colony grows. You can also choose to divide this super if you want to keep two separate hives. Most supers come without this kind of versatility, so this is a huge plus if you are looking to expand your beekeeping industry.
The Apimaye Medium Insulated Super for Langstroth Beehive usually does not, however, come with honeycomb frames. In most instances, those are to be purchased separately, though this is not the case for all online orders. If you do have to order the super without any frames, it is designed to be used with either plastic or wood frames, which makes it easier to find a set that works with your budget and this super.
General dimensions of this super are 21 x 17.7 x 7.4 inches, and the model weighs in at around 7 pounds.
While the Apimaye Medium Insulated Super for Langstroth Beehive does get universally glowing reviews, you do end up forking over a fair bit more than you would for other comparable models.
Professional beekeepers attest to its quality, however, and rarely lament investing in this model. Ordering through Amazon with a set of plastic frames will run you 350 dollars.
The professionals attest that this model is worth every penny, so let’s dive in and see exactly what the Apimaye has over its competitors.
We picked a few similar products available on the market to see how they compare.
Check on Amazon
Expect to pay $$$ with frames from Amazon.
While it is suggested that most hive boxes be made of wood, the UV resistant plastic and double insulation puts this model at the top for quality materials. The insulation ensures bees stay warm even during the coldest winter months, which keeps them from consuming your valuable honey harvest.
If you want to, you can also choose to buy wooden frames. This ensures that the interior is comprised of natural, high quality materials for your bees.
The Apimaye Medium Insulated Super for Langstroth Beehive is delivered assembled. It does not require any painting, making it a perfect purchase for first time beekeepers. If the order comes without frames, all you have to do is purchase those separately and fit them easily inside the super.
Adding more supers or diving the current model is incredibly easy as well.
This is one of the best designed beehive homes on the market. Its versatility is a huge plus, and the added pollen screen and drawer at the bottom provides extra safety and security for your hive.
Professional and new beekeepers alike rarely complain about be deaths when using this home. It performs well all year round, and even has extra safety measures to keep wild bees and, perhaps people, from looting your honey.
The double wall of insulation makes for a durable super, one of the most durable on the market. UV resistant plastic also helps ensure this beehive home lasts for many years to come.
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Check on Amazon
This model is an adorable, wood framed super made with solid cedar wood. It comes with a peaked roof design that sheds water, keeping your hive clean and dry. There is built in ventilation control with adjustable airflow to ensure your bees are comfortable as weather changes. Also comes with two windows that allow you to view your hive.
This one runs about $$$ dollars on Amazon.
While the solid cedar wood makes for optimal material quality, the paint job on the product received multiple customer complaints. While it looks appealing, many customers had to go over the paint job themselves with their own materials.
While the paint job seemed rather substandard, the windows would sometimes be cracked upon delivery due to manufacturer error.
The product comes assembled and requires little to no work on the customers part. Besides complaints about paint and windows, product was easy to set up.
A few customers were not fond of how the hive appeared and the design took awhile to win a few customers over. Other customers complained about the overall quality of the materials, which results in a super that seemed to last only a could of years. A good super should last at least 10 to 20 years, while this one seemed to fail at meeting those expectations.
While certain customers praised this product for establishing a decent home for their hive, others complained that it was lacking in features that make beekeeping easy. While this makes a good test run for beginners, it is a poor choice for the professionals.
Because this model is made with lower quality materials, it is not the most durable on this list.
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Check on Amazon
This is an 8 frame Langstroth hive with one viewing window to check up on the health of your hive. Peaked roof with corrugated telescoping keeps rain from entering the hive. Designed to fit securely with the Summer Hawk Ranch hive stand, which is sold seperately.
This model is about $$$ on Amazon.
Moderate quality materials. Made out of wood for the walls and tin for the roof.
Product is shipped assembled so little to no work is required of the customer.
With only one customer review it is hard to determine whether or not this product is good at what it does. The one customer did complain, however, that the product was damaged in shipping and that it was not built to last.
Based on the one customer’s review, performance seem barely adequate.
Materials seemed to be of low quality so not a very durable product.
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Check on Amazon
This is a 10 frame hive made with 3 inch high grade plywood for insulation. Comes with 10 wooden frames and undercut for grip and rot resistance. Has a telescoping top and a screened bottom board with slide out tray. It also comes with two deep boxes and three medium boxes, all of which are unassembled.
This is a pricey $$$ from various sellers on Amazon.
Made with high quality materials.
Comes assembled except for two deep drawers and three medium drawers.
Design is optimal with bottom detachable screen to help keep out pests. Phenomenal product.
Great performance reviews from multiple customers. A few complained about it being a little too difficult to manage for beginning beekeepers.
Despite the beehive being made of high quality materials, a few customers complained about the high not lasting as long as they anticipated, and that it was prone to breaking on multiple occasions. Although made with good materials, it is not built to last.
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After pouring through various comparable items, it is clear that the Apimaye Medium Insulated Super for Langstroth Beehive should be your number one choice, whether you are new to beekeeping or are a seasoned professional. It provides the best insulation, the best protection from pests, has the most versatility, and is incredibly durable.
The Apimaye Medium Insulated Super for Langstroth Beehive, while an expensive option, is the best product on the market for raising and happy and healthy beehive. If you are willing to fork over the 300 dollars, this is the beehive home for you.